Scylla Favored in Wide-Open Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga

Despite having never won a stakes race sprinting, Juddmonte homebred Scylla was certified the 5/2 morning line favorite in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga on Saturday. 

The Bill Mott trainee comes from a productive family of runners out of the stakes-winning mare Close Hatches. Mott has trained full siblings to Scylla, including Tacticus and Batten Down. 

Scylla went off as the clear favorite in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss last month at Saratoga, though six furlongs may have been too short for her as she will get an extra furlong on Saturday. That race was won by upset winner Halina’s Forte in a perfectly timed ride by Irad Ortiz, Jr.. Halina’s Forte will look for a similar race set up on Saturday as well.

Prior to the Honorable Miss, Scylla ran a distance second to graded stakes winner Ways and Means in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses in June. It seemed as though Ways and Means might’ve been pointing to this race, although she is noticeably missing from the field. The Klaravich Stables homebred has not posted to the worktab since Aug. 2 where she worked four furlongs in :48.66.

Hope Road, the first foal out of graded stakes winning Marley’s Freedom, hasn’t finished worse than fourth since transferring to the barn of Bob Baffert last year. Though she is winless since last November, the daughter of Quality Road has regularly hit the board, including a monster second place finish in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff back in May behind Kopion. 

Kopion is another female sprinter missing from this Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In race. Trained by Richard Mandella, Kopion has yet to return to the Winners’ Circle after the gutsy performance this past Kentucky Derby Day. Mandella, known to be a conservative yet strategic trainer in where he places his horses, will likely wait for a race on the west coast to prep the daughter of Omaha Beach ahead of a Breeders’ Cup appearance. 

Mystic Lake will scratch from the field. Trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. and owner C2 Racing Stable opted to run the daughter of Mo Town in the Misty Bennett Pink Ribbon Stakes at Charles Town on Friday evening against fillies and mares like Vahva. The decision paid off as Mystic Lake defeated heavy favorite Vahva, adding another stakes victory to her resume. Vahva, trained by Cherie DeVaux, finished a non-threatening second at odds of 1/2.

Post time for the Ballerina is 4:59pm ET. 

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